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Monday, May 7, 2012

Pillow Power: The Bow-Chica-Bow-Wow Bedroom Makeover

Re-covering a few of my throw pillows was the last change I decided to make to our master bedroom as part of our Bow-Chica-Bow-Wow Bedroom Makeover.

I had three throw pillows (two green velvet-y pillows and a small tan burlap and black velvet pillow) on our bed, which you can see in the Before picture below.

I purchased a couple yards of this chartreuse and white fabric from fabric.com to cover the two green pillows (the little tan and black pillow was donated to the little tan and black boxer who lives in my house).

I decided to make these pillow coverings removable, because frankly, it's just easier to get them on the pillow that way (and it'll be easy to take them off to clean). I did not, however, want to burden myself with the trouble of sewing in a zipper. I'm not very good at sewing, though I do ok if I really concentrate.... but after the board and batten project, I was a wee bit exhausted. All that to say, zippers just seemed like too much work. So, here's what I did...

My fabric arrived and I was ecstatic! It was my first time ordering fabric online. I have to say, I'm a fan and can't wait to order more. I got this fabric for just under $8 per yard plus a couple bucks for shipping. All in, I think I paid $18 total for two yards of this fabric.

Not two seconds after I snapped the picture above, my dear canine settled in for a nap. This dog loves a pillow so much, she will snuggle up on one before it's even a pillow.

After I shoo-ed away the dog, I gathered my throw pillows (with the old pillow covers removed).

I cut my fabric long enough to embrace the pillow in triplicate.

I tidied up the seams on the shorter ends. I left the long edges unfinished / rough.

I flipped my fabric "inside out" (backside down, pattern up), and placed my pillow on top. This helped me gauge how the pillow case would eventually fit. I folded one side over the pillow, and then the other side of fabric over that (like a burrito!). One thing I learned is that you don't want to go too far to the edge of the pillow with either end of the fabric, especially the side that will be facing out when the pillow is done. Tip: the side that you lay down first will be the visible side (on the back of the pillow), so if one of your seams looks better than the other, use that as your outside piece.

I removed the pillow and folded my fabric again as I just had, making sure the fabric was flat, even and straight, and that neither seam was too close to the edge. I placed my pillow on top of the folded fabric and lightly marked where my corners were. I'm sure there exists a more scientific way to do this, but I just eyeballed it, and went slightly larger than my pillow. I wanted a pretty snug fit.

I pinned my fabric and sewed a square, connecting the four corners I had marked.

I trimmed the excess fabric....

...and flipped the cover right-side in.

And then I stuffed my pillow inside!

Wash, rinse and repeat, and now I have two beautifully re-covered pillows.

I love the fabric! My mother-in-law taught me this envelope/sham style pillow cover years ago when I first go married because my sewing skills definitely didn't (and still don't) include zippers. It's a great technique for beginners like me!

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